IN RETROSPECT...AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Hi Friends!

So...as we arrive at the conclusion to 2012 I must confess some unhappiness that I have had to (reluctantly) continue the summertime hiatus of this blog.

 I look back at the posts from the earliest part of the year and fervently wish that I'd been able to continue. My original intention was to write about any and all subjects that were important to me. Music, mass media, sports,  relationships, societal problems, some politics (in no particular order)....often tying these subjects to events out of my own past in what I hoped would be an entertaining and potentially enlightening manner. As an intelligent, unusually insightful and sensitive man, it was my hope that my comments would perhaps strike the reader in some important way - and perhaps even help them to look at the subject-at-hand in a slightly different way.

Above all I rediscovered my love for writing - long dormant for too many years - and took pleasure out of expressing myself in this forum. I have found myself very much missing the process as well as the final result...and of course the therapeutic value of the act of writing and expressing oneself cannot be overestimated...

Looking back I see that most of my prior posts revolved around baseball (ie. my team...the Mets) as well  as some pivotal events in my past. That just happened, (almost)... stream of consciousness...I would hope to write about other subjects should the blog be continued.

It has been a difficult year. Both of my parents passed away after a long, painful, difficult, and slow demise. My daughter  - off on a marvelous adventure to study in New Zealand - had to endure the painful experience of classmates and friends losing their lives in an accident while they were traveling to the site where the Lord of the Rings trilogy had been filmed. Additional family illness reared its ugly head. And on a more global stage, certain international and societal problems and issues continued to plague mankind - as those individuals and institutions responsible to address these problems remained stubbornly ineffective - and maddeningly irrelevant.

But - I would be remiss if I did not mention the good, the positives in 2012...

The original reason for this blog's hiatus...the writing and production of fourteen new and original folk-rock songs...has been a wonderful, productive and creative endeavor...I have enjoyed each and every moment of the process!  My songs are very much my children...created (seemingly) out of thin air, existing because of the particular and special combination of personal circumstances and commitment that led to their creation. Specific lyrics (and their underlying meaning), music, instrumentation...none would exist in this particular combination if I had not produced them! Although it is frustrating to work with software that sometimes yields an unsatisfactory result - and believe me, I hear every note and sound that varies from my vision of how that song should sound - these problems do not diminish in any way my very real pleasure in writing, singing, and producing my own songs.  The material is just about ready for release, I am reasonably happy with the final result - and in the process has helped me during some trying and difficult times.

My songs....my "children"...

Another recent positive during this period has been my return to acting...I have been in rehearsals for a community theatre production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible".  I hadn't realized how much I missed being on stage and participating with other actors in the process of creating an entertaining and well-acted show...just a few more days until Opening Night! (The role of a Puritan minister is quite a stretch for me - but I have had much fun and have taken great pleasure in being able to portray this interesting character on stage.)

Finally....there have been the people in my life that I love and who love me. You know who you are. Your love and support has been invaluable and I cherish it...thank you...love you!

Re 2013... I hope to resume - at least semi-regularly! - writing this blog. It is very important to me. I expect the New Year to be much better...I am always optimistic.  Please stay tuned....

To everyone...have a safe and healthy New Year.
Reach out and be nice to one another.

Love, Stevenn